Why Exercise can be Obsessive

Thank you Amanda for letting us think out loud! Today I get to ‘ruminate’ on one of the biggest subjects I struggled with during my unhealthy relationship with food and the body that God had given me. This is why exercise can be obsessive and why it SHOULDN’T be obsessive (from my perspective, not a health professional.)

Exercise anxiety is one of the biggest things I struggled with during an eating disorder. If I missed a workout, I would break out in a cold sweat. If someone interrupted my workout, I would try to resist glaring at them. In many ways, I let my idol of exercise replace my love for others and my love for God. I put this other god before my God, and it only served to fuel an obsession, not a healthy habit.

Exercise anxiety is just another part of the idol of an eating disorder. It was my way of trying to make my body ‘good enough.’ Yet, I couldn’t ever please myself with just how ‘fit’ my body was because my whole relationship with exercise was wrong and twisted.

Here’s what I’ve come to realize about exercise.

1. God made our bodies to move. He also made a 7th day for us to rest completely in Him and worship Him in His house. He didn’t make us to run our bodies into the ground. Life is a balance of working out and rest.

2. Exercise is not an ‘end goal’ in and of itself. For me, it’s become a means of refreshing my mind and my body so I can go on doing other things like studying or doing mental work.

3. Exercise, for me, is a special time to meditate on God, to pray, and to just be quiet, while I get my heart rate pumping. It’s actually, strangely peaceful, when I just work out, don’t talk, and think about everything that’s going on in life while thinking on God’s faithfulness.

4. It’s such fun to just be active. You don’t have to burn ‘X’ amount of calories or run ‘X’ amount of miles to enjoy exercise. You can jump on the trampoline. You can do a fun video workout. You can workout for 1 minute to 60 minutes. There’s no ‘one size fits all’, and each body is so different.

5. Most importantly, every runner, athlete, exerciser, cyclist, and bodybuilder needs rest. God created us to need rest, to refresh our bodies and minds, so that we can continue to work and serve in this amazing world that He has created!

Comments

I absolutely agree that exercise needs to be fun and enjoyable — it shouldn’t be a chore that we need to force ourselves to suffer through… and that’s exactly what it was for me in the depths of my ED. It wasn’t until I gave up exercise completely that I realized how dependant on it I was, and how much more I enjoyed life when I wasn’t constantly exhausted from the extra stress that I put on my body. Exercise should make us feel better, not worse. And if it’s the latter, then I think it’s super important to step back and reexamine the relationship we have with it.

Hi Emily! Yes, rest days are good, and yes, we all need rest. I think you’ve come to some very realistic and healthy reflections on exercise. It’s wonderful that you’re sharing that here. I like to exercise to feel good, and that’s why it’s become part of my job as someone who works in fitness, but I definitely like to have my off time too. 🙂

Thanks Ashley! 🙂 I completely concur that exercise should feel good, and I’m getting to the point of enjoying it while I’m doing it, but I also try not to keep going if I’m miserable or not feeling well.

Exercise obsession is so easy to get in to but hard to get out of. Honestly, I still struggle with twinges of anxiety when I don’t fit in a planned workout or a workout doesn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Routine is a hard thing to break. However, what really helped me was actually studying abroad for 10 days. Eating all the food, not being able to go to a gym at all, and just trying to live in the moment made me appreciate moving my body with a set schedule. It was the best step in ED recovery I could have taken.

Exercise is great. I love doing it. But I need to remind myself that exercise isn’t the be-all-end-all. I love that mentioned how God rested on the 7th day. That’s what encourages me whenever I rest. If God can do it, I can too!

I definitely still struggle with twinges of guilt if I miss a workout, and God is still working on me in that way. And I’m so thankful that God set aside a special day for spiritual refreshment and physical rest too. <3

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I live in the beautiful state of Colorado where 14ers are to give you all the sore legs you need, amazing skiing, plenty of other runners, glorious sunsets, majestic elk herds, and peaceful country roads with clear air.

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Go Back in Time!

Go Back in Time!

I am a very ordinary girl. I’m 24, but if you met me, you wouldn’t believe me. I am passionate about girls finding true beauty in Christ. I love peanut butter, icecream, and salad. My hobbies are cooking, baking, sharing laughs and tears with others, and sharing the fullness of joy that Christ has put in me. I love reading other blogs, and I hope that this will be a place where you can find encouragement, recipes, smiles, and joy. Click here to read more about me...